


Stay Till the Sky Turns

by anotherdroogie



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cancer, Character Death, M/M, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-20
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-16 04:32:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8087365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherdroogie/pseuds/anotherdroogie
Summary: "My sisters and my brothers, still I will not kiss you"What happens when the transfer kid meets the awkward outcast? Romance is supposed to ensue, but what's a transfer kid supposed to do when the awkward kid won't let anyone close to him?{Sad songfic based off the Twenty One Pilots cover of "Cancer" (originally by MCR)}





	1. I have to go.

**Author's Note:**

> OH BOY THIS IS SAD SORRY GUYS

Hanzo's eyes narrowed as he searched the cafeteria in hopes of finding somewhere to sit. He was supposed to sit with Genji, but his brother was nowhere to be found. Then he spotted someone sitting in the corner by themselves. They looked lonely, and rather oddly dressed in a red poncho and cowboy hat perched on his head. Hanzo shuffled over to them, Converse sneakers squeaking on the tile floor. "Can I sit by you?" Hanzo asked, accent thick. His parents had recently transferred them to America for his father's 'business' and now he was just the weird kid of the school.

The kid looked up at him in shock, then scooted over a little bit to make room. "Uh, yeah, sure. I guess." He didn't sound too sure.

Hanzo held out his hand, hoping he was doing this American customs thing right. "I am Hanzo. Hanzo Shimada."

The other kid gave him a funny look, but shook his hand in return. "Jesse. Jesse uh- McCree."

"Jesse McCree, pleasure to meet you!" Hanzo beamed, and he swore he saw Jesse blush a bit. It was probably just secondhand embarrassment from being seen with the new weird Japanese kid, and his thick accent.

"Preasure?" Jesse mocked his accent.

"Urusai!" Hanzo said, and a few kids turned to look down at them. He felt his face grow hot and he stared down at the revolting food on the tray in his lap.

"Uresay?" He butchered the pronunciation, and it was making Hanzo angry.

"It means shut up." Hanzo said flatly, not looking up from his tray.

Jesse looked a little guilty. "Look, fella, I'm sorry- I didn't mean it like that. I just- I'm not good with people." He mumbled, glazed eyes staring dead ahead.

Hanzo looked over at him, and smiled slightly. "It is okay. Apology accepted."

Jesse looked over, and returned with an even bigger smile. Something caught his eye, though. It looked like Hanzo had a tattoo on his arm. "What's that?" he pointed to the designs.

"Huh? Oh- Just stuff I drew in class. Teacher talk too fast, I got lost." He giggled, and Jesse swore he felt his heart jump. Shit, he wasn't supposed to be doing this. He couldn't get close to anyone, especially not now, now that the cancer was worsening at a rapid rate. Jesse flinched, looking away like he had just witnessed someone jump from a skyscraper. Like a body falling, this was going to be loud, messy, and it was going to hurt.

Hanzo saw him flinch, and just poked at his inedible food, assuming he had done something wrong. Now he felt guilty, this was the closest person he had to a friend and he was already shying away from him.

"Where do you live?" Jesse asked after an awkward period of silence.

"Not too far from here, just down the road."

"Me too, dude!" He smiled and weakly nudged Hanzo with his elbow. "What's your house number?"

Hanzo told him, and Jesse's eyes widened in shock. "I- uh.. Fella, I live right next door. So your family's the one that bought the house?"

Hanzo nodded, smiling gently, both of them jumping when the bell for lunch to end went off. Hanzo immediately threw his styrofoam tray into the trash along with his untouched meal before anyone could get there. "I'll talk to you later!" Jesse called, and got a wave of acknowledgement in reply.

* * *

Hanzo's window faced the house next to his, right across from his neighbor's window. He wished he could have a window in the back, facing the open field behind the houses. The sky was just starting turn light blue with cotton candy clouds, and he'd kill to have a view like that.

He was busy with his head down, brain deep in thought on a calculus problem when there was a tapping on his window. He chose to ignore it, until the third tap. That's when he finally looked up, and saw Jesse tossing candies at his closed window. Once he had Hanzo's attention, Jesse motioned for Hanzo to open the window. Hanzo rolled his eyes, and did as motioned. There was no screen separating him from the outside world, his father hadn't gotten around to installing the screens yet, so he leaned out and stage-whispered, "What do you want?"

"Meet me in the field in fifteen minutes! I want to talk to ya!" Jesse almost yelled. 

"My parents-" Hanzo said.

"Who cares? Just sneak out your window!"

"But what if they come check on me?" Hanzo questioned.

"Do they usually check on you when you're studying, or do they leave you alone?" Jesse sighed.

"They usually leave me alone.." he hesitated, then nodded, closing his window to get ready. He almost slipped out of his sweats to get back into his jeans, then he remembered how the night air stung against his cheeks and nose, and decided against it. Sweats were always much warmer. He grabbed a heavier jacket out of one of his many unpacked boxes. There were too many boxes in his room, and he hated it. Clutter bothered him, but he was too busy with studying to work on unpacking. Ten minutes after Jesse had told him to get ready, he slipped out the window. Luckily, he was on the first floor and it wouldn't be difficult to get back into his room. He slid the window shut behind him to avoid suspicion, and took out his phone to use as a flashlight.

By the time he reached the barbwire fence, it was getting harder and harder to see. Hanzo slipped between the wires, stopping when he heard a rustling in the tall grass. 

"Who's there?" He called out, immediately regretting it. What if it had been an ax-murderer? Luckily, it was just Jesse McCree.

"You made it!" he breathed out, exhilarated.

"Of course, I do not like to leave people hanging."

Jesse grabbed a hold of his hand, and started dragging him through the grass. "There's a place I want to show you." He said, offering no further explanation when questioned.

When shown what he had to sneak out for, Hanzo immediately knew it was worth it. Against the darkening velvet sky that was dotted with clouds, lay an old oak tree with gnarled branches that swooped low to the ground. Underneath the oak tree was lush grass that had spent its life shaded by the oak tree, and fed by the decaying leaves. Hanzo allowed himself to be guided closer to the tree. It was late in the year, so the smell of new leaf decay drifted into the air when the leaves were kicked into the air. It was absolutely stunning, and for this, he knew he'd have to show Jesse a cherry blossom tree in bloom when spring came about.

Jesse stepped on a low laying branch, climbed onto a low hanging branch, and swung his legs back and forth. Hanzo hesitantly joined him, not daring to sit too close, which Jesse seemed to be fine with. Then, the conversation started. At first it was getting to know each other, and where they had came from. Hanzo told his many tales of Japan and its schooling system, while Jesse seemed to be able to counter with an even crazier story of the American schooling system. They both started laughing so hard they nearly fell off the goddamn branch.

Hanzo pulled out his phone and checked the time, squinting against the bright LCD screen. Midnight. He held out the phone to Jesse, showing him the time. Jesse let out a string of profanities, jumped down, and told Hanzo to follow him.

"We gotta get home!" He urged, holding Hanzo's hand again as they ran through the tall grass.

Once back in his room, Hanzo sat down on the edge of his bed, out of breath. Truth be told, he thought he was in love. With a guy. That wasn't normal, but God sue him, he was going to love Jesse till death do them part. He decided it was time to get ready for bed. Following his usually routine of changing into pajamas, brushing his teeth, and reading a chapter of a book in low light, he climbed into bed. He couldn't sleep, though. His brain was going a million miles an hour with thoughts of the boy next door and what had just happened. Hopefully it would be a regular occurrence.

* * *

It did. It became tradition for them. They snuck out at 10, and made it back by 12. In the span of those two hours, over the course of a month, they had become best friends. Hanzo admitted he might be gay, and Jesse shrugged it off like he didn't care. He really didn't care, being gay was just something unique about a person, and he always tried to see the best in people. He didn't even flinch when Hanzo started sitting closer and closer to him, eventually sitting right next to him, hands touching ever so slightly. Jesse had even gotten him to promise that he'd stay with him one night till the sky turned blue.

"Can I tell you something?" Hanzo asked, picking at the side of his nail nervously.

Jesse looked over at him, concerned. "Of course, you can tell me anything, dude."

He took a deep breath, leaned in, and kissed Jesse. His heart broke when he got no response besides stunned silence, followed by Jesse hopping off the tree branch. Ouch.

"Where are you going?" Hanzo asked, looking like a kicked puppy.

"I have to go." Jesse stormed off through the grass, leaving Hanzo behind. Hanzo stayed there the entire night, wondering what he had did wrong, until the sky turned orange and then blue like a robin's egg. He slowly slid off the tree branch, trudged home, snuck in through the window, and grabbed his stuff for school. He didn't even stop to grab breakfast, just putting on his shoes, and walking out the door.

Hanzo never heard from Jesse again.


	2. Hospital Intermission

Jesse teared up as he sat in the hospital bed, wires and tubes sticking out of him in all places. There was an IV in his arm, giving him his weekly dose of chemicals that were slowly and painfully killing him from the inside. He hated his lungs for developing those stupid cancerous cells, his parents for smoking around him so frequently and having to leave him here all alone, and Hanzo for making him fall for him.

Now he was all alone in a hospital bed, staring out a hospital window, wishing he could just grow a pair of wings and fly away like a bird. He hated everything so much, and he hated himself most of all. Mostly cause he loved Hanzo, and would never be able to tell him. He was growing weaker with each passing treatment, and his lungs failed more and more everyday. It was only a matter of time till his lungs gave out entirely, and he would die.

The thought of dying scared him. Not because he feared the unknown in the afterlife, but because he feared of what would happen to someone who got close to him. He feared what life would be like for them. And now that Hanzo had gotten close, he was scared for him. He didn't want it to be this way, he just wanted to be a normal teenage boy with healthy lungs and a shitty diet, not a healthy diet and shitty lungs.

He reached up into his already thin hair, with many bald spots, grabbed a handful of hair, and pulled it. To the surprise of none, it came out easily. This just made him cry more. McCree threw the fistful of hair on the ground, and continued pulling out more spots, sobbing loudly till a nurse came rushing down the hallway.

"Jesse?" she asked, voice dripping with concern.

"Whaddaya want?" he sniffled, throwing more hair down on the floor.

She stepped inside the door, pushed aside the privacy curtain and sighed as she saw the mess he had made. This had happened for the last four weeks. "Is it Hanzo?" she asked, kneeling down in front of him and taking his hands in her own. He only nodded in return.

"It's not fair! I love him and he loves me and here I am dying because my stupid fucking lungs can't do their job correctly! It's just not fair, Angela!"

Angela sighed again, brushing some of her blonde locks out of her face. "I know, Jesse, I know..." It physically hurt her to see him like this, and it hurt even more to know that she couldn't do anything about it. She regretted ever becoming a nurse, especially in the oncology ward. Worst decision of her life.

"I'm really sorry, Jesse." she said, standing up again. "I hope you two meet in another life."

She walked out of the room, pardoned herself into the restroom, and cried.


	3. The Sky Finally Turned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I told you I'd stay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woops, no one gets a happy ending, sorry bout that

Hanzo stared down at the newspaper clipping in his hand in disbelief. It was an obituary for Jesse McCree. It read:

_Jesse J. McCree, 16, passed away on Wednesday, October 12th, 2015 due to complications involving lung cancer. He was born December 20th, 1998 in [ ... ]_

He couldn't read anymore. It hurt too badly and made him cry too hard. He was gone, and the last words he ever heard from him were "I've got to go." Goddammit Jesse, why couldn't you have just been honest. Hanzo hid his face in his hoodie sleeve, muffling a sob but it was still enough to catch the attention of other students.

"C'mon, Hanzo, let's go somewhere a little more private," Genji offered, and guided him to an empty classroom and in a shocking moment, hugged Hanzo. Hanzo didn't hesitate to return the hug, burying his face in Genji's shoulder and letting out another sob.

"Shh, it's okay, let it out. I'll ask mother and father about the funeral." Genji said, and Hanzo just nodded.

* * *

 

Contrary to the universe's regular rules about funerals and services, the day was bright and sunny when the Shimada brothers went to Jesse's funeral. Both were dressed sharply in suits, and Genji looked bored. He was really only there to emotionally support Hanzo, who happened to be a crying mess.

The service was terrible. It hurt to see Jesse look so peaceful in his coffin, dressed in a red suit (per his last request). He had obviously been suited with a wig and it was only evident because the wig sat lopsided. There were wails in the background from all different sources, usually female. This was the reason Genji hated people dying, and attending funerals: It was always too emotional and dark for him. 

Then came the time of the funeral procession, and it was a long, slow, and incredibly boring ride with a sniveling brother. The younger Shimada brother was forced to drive, seeing as Hanzo was too emotionally incapacitated to operate heavy machinery.

Other than the ironically bright cloudless sky, the funeral proceeded as normal. Genji thought it was stupid, Hanzo was in pain, along with Jesse's family. And just like that, it was over. The casket had been lowered, dirt poured in and cement lid put on. It looked like there had never been a hole there in the first place.

Genji tried to drag Hanzo away from the burial, but Hanzo just shook him off and told him to go home. He had unfinished business to attend to.

When everyone had left, Hanzo sat down to the right of the headstone, like he had sat with Jesse on the oak branch. There were so many bouquets of flowers that lay on Jesse's grave. He leaned up against the cold marble, staring up at a plane flying overhead.

"I loved you, y'know," he started. "I just thought you were some kind of selfish asshole, and you kinda are. You left me like this, with a broken heart and no good final words. You didn't even have the decency to return my kiss. I thought we had something special. You're an asshole, McCree, but it's alright. I forgive you."

There was no reply. Hanzo decided he needed to be quiet before too many people thought he was absolutely crazy. Soon, the cemetery was empty, aside from him. The sky was turning purple with the brightest stars making their presence known. And then it was pitch black. Just him, Jesse's headstone, and the stars to keep him company. He pointed out his favorite constellations, and told him how he truly felt. He told him everything, even if he never got a reply.

And he stayed there till the sky turned blue again. 


End file.
